Building Blocks

I think these last two weeks have been really important for my project. I've made a lot of progress-a new interview and almost finished with my sculpture. Although the process is slow, it's given me time to think about what I want to get out of it, and where I see all of this work going. The interviews that I have done don't truly capture what I want to convey. Rather, I think it's how I piece them together that will tell a more accurate story through my eyes. Next week I want to feel more confident in what that story is.

Details

I regretfully forgot to take a picture before I left my studio yesterday, but should be able to add one sometime tomorrow. This week was all about the details. I went on the hunt for all sorts of wooden objects that could be cut up into pieces I'd need to make my sculpture come to life. The tips of tiny picket fences and craft sticks become shingles, and balsa wood rectangles cut to size are window shades and siding accents. I got to work, putting little details into my sculpture, and getting it ready to be primed and painted in the very near future. I ran into some trouble with gluing things down, so I spent some time seeking alternative methods to attaching some of the little details. I've learned that these details make a huge difference, and I feel excited about my work again. I was having a bit of a rough week due to some personal things I am working through and some of the terrifying things happening in the world right now. I am starting to discover that sometimes channeling that emotion into my work instead of running away from it, can often be the best thing for me. For next week, I plan to have this sculpture finished, and hopefully set a time to meet with my 2nd family. My third family, I plan to interview in Dallas over Thanksgiving weekend. It is just a father and daughter that live together, so I think that will be an interesting addition to the "neighborhood". Thinking farther down the line to December reviews, I would like to have one sculpture and sound piece totally finished, and another sculpture and two sound pieces in progress.

A Quick Update

This week was spent mostly getting my grant proposal together. I spent some time talking to potential interviewees too, and did several sketches to plan for my sculpture. I've been working on putting together my first sound piece, and it is coming together nicely. I feel like the sound I have is still missing something. I am currently hunting for that something. I don't feel like I discovered anything new this week-just lack of something new. Next week, I am going full steam ahead and hopefully making some important breakthroughs for my process.

Attachment

This week was devoted mostly to aesthetics. I built the skeleton for my sculpture (I apologize for forgetting to take pictures!) and made sketches for various options I'm exploring for its completion. After my crit, I started to think more seriously about the connection between the sculptures and the sound, and I think the connections will become more apparent as the piece progresses. I spent some time writing my grant proposal as well, which was helpful in honing in on what makes my work compelling to an audience. This week I realized how important imagery is going to be in all aspects of my project. I think that the imagery from the sound and the imagery in the sculpture don't need to be a perfect match, but they need to correlate in some way that makes sense to the viewer, even subconsciously. For next week, I am gathering the rest of the interviews to finish the first sound piece. I also hope to finish basic construction of my first sculpture and prime.